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Saturday, March 31, 2012

To support this month’s Aspiring Bakers theme, I gathered all ingredients and baked maracon for the first time on 11th March 2012. Since I just bought a pack of matcha powder while shopping for the ground almond so naturally matcha macaron came into my mind.

I was lucky to get the signature “feet” on my first trial but my macarons were over baked. I should have baked at lower temperature instead of 175C as suggested in the recipe. Also, I got to blame myself for not monitoring closely (I was busy drawing on my Iphone actually; those who play the game should know what I am talking about).

The over-baked macarons were not wasted; they were very delicious in my opinion, tasted just like meringue cookies. I finished all by myself. Hehe.

This batch of macarons is from my second attempt. I learnt my lesson. I lowered the oven temperature and stayed close to the oven to observe throughout the process. I was so happy to see the macarons came out green (no more brown top) and in shape. After maturing, the crust is slight crunchy whereas the inside is slight chewy. Though I like it chewy I think it can be more tender.

Recipe adapted from here. I have actually made slight changes to the amount of ingredient in my two attempts. That’s why there are two sets of ingredient amount in the recipe below. The first set yields dryer batter (which is easier to pipe) and more intense matcha flavour whereas the batter from second set is slightly runnier and the match flavour is quite mild. Personally I prefer more intense matcha flavour so I will use 5g of matcha powder next time.

1) Sieve ground almond (my ground almond is not fine enough, so I grind it again before sieving). Do not use the ground almond which does not pass through the sieve. Combine sifted ground almond with matcha powder and icing sugar in (A), sieve together into a large mixing bowl.

3) Fold in egg white to ground almond mixture with a rubber spatula till a uniform and glossy batter is formed.

4) Fit piping bag with a 1cm plain nozzle tip (Wilton #2A) and fill in the batter. Pipe small circles on non-stick baking sheet (I get my template from here).

5) Prick any air bubbles with a toothpick. Let macarons rest on the baking sheet at room temperature for at least 20 mins till the shell is no longer as sticky (will still be a bit sticky when touched). This step will “dry” the caps and help them rise later when they cook. Meanwhile, preheat oven at 150C, upper heat only.

6) Bake macaron shells at centre rack with upper heat only until “feet” appear (it takes about 3-5 mins) then move the pan to lower rack, switch to lower heat only and place a cool empty tray on upper rack (this is to prevent remaining heat from the upper heating element to further brown the top of macaron shells), continue to bake for another 8-10 mins (depending on individual oven) (I tried using double tray when baking, it helps to prevent the bottom of the shells to turn brown before the shells are fully cooked).

7) Remove the baking paper with maracon shells from baking tray and cool on wire rack. Remove macaron shell from baking paper. Pair them according to size, pipe your preferred filling (I used Nutella here) on cooled shell and assemble. Keep in airtight container in fridge and let them rest for another 24 hours. The humidity of the icing will get into the crispy caps and that’s what will make them crisp on the outside and so tender on the inside. Take out macarons from fridge 20-25 mins to thaw before serving.
﻿

In pairs

﻿ My friends, Esther and Ann, also use the same recipe source for their macarons. Check up their beautiful macarons here and here.

Method:1) Heat up half soya milk in a saucepan over low heat (I also added some pandan leaves). Meanwhile, dissolve agar-agar powder in the remaining soya milk.2) When the soya milk becomes slightly hot, add the soya milk/agar-agar powder mixture, cook over low heat, stir from time to time till you see bubble on top (take about 5 mins, do not cook till boiling). Turn off heat. 3) Pour the soya milk into bowls gently to avoid air bubbles. Scoop away bubbles on top (if any). Cool down to room temperature and refrigerate till set (about 3- 4 hours). Serve with your preferred syrup. Note:The original ratio for agar-agar powder and soya milk is 1 tsp to 1.2 L (or ½ tsp to 600ml), because my home-made soya milk is more diluted so I reduce the amount to 1L and the texture came out just nice. Sonia (Nasi Lemak Lover) has shared her experiences in making this chilled bean curd in detail, do check out her blog post here if you want to find out more.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Yesterday was my mum’s birthday. We had a mini celebration on Sunday as D was not in town yesterday.Last year I made mum a mango cake and this year I made her a yam cake as mum likes to eat yam.

This cake is actually very similar to the popular pandan kaya cake but it’s with yam paste added. I can only get hold of Thailand yam here which is very fluffy (in Teochew/ Hokkien we call it “sang”) but lack of the yam fragrance. Therefore, I got to use some yam flavoring to enhance the taste. In case you are interested to get the flavoring, I bought my yam colour flavored paste from Phoon Huat, Redman brand (there is also another type without colour added).

For the cake base I choose French Sponge Cake this time which is using separated egg method. As compared to the Traditional Sponge Cake (whole egg method, see here), French Sponge Cake is softer and moister. It remains soft and moist even just out from the fridge. Therefore, I think it worth the effort to make French Sponge Cake although it involves more works and washing. The yam layer is very smooth and I find that the softness is just nice.

The step of making this cake seems long but with proper planning it is actually not difficult to make at all. Original recipe is meant for 10” round tin with 9” sponge cake but I only have 8” round tin, so I made an 8” cake and trimmed it to about 7”. The excess cake and yam pudding were not wasted; I layered them in paper cups (like making tiramisu), made 3 cups.

Ingredients:(A)4 egg yolks20g sugar¼ tsp vanilla extract (I used yam flavoring)(B)4 egg white(C)100g sugar (I used 70g)(D)110g plain flour (I used cake flour)(E)70g melted butterMethod:1) Whip (A) until light and fluffy.2) Whip (B) till soft peak form. Add (C) and continue whipping until stiff.3) Fold the meringue into (A) until well blended.4) Sieve (D) and fold until well combined.5) Fold in (E) and mix until well incorporated.6) Pour the batter into a greased and lined 8” round tin. Bake in preheated oven at 180C for 25 mins. Remove cake from pan immediately when done. Slice into 3pcs horizontally after cooling down (you may make this in advance and keep in fridge). Yam Layer(Recipe adapted from Alex Goh’s Creative Making of Cakes)

Ingredients:(A)800ml water200g sugar (I used 150g)Pinch of salt2tsp agar-agar powder(B) 300ml coconut milk (I used the box type, Kara brand)300g yam, steamed (mash it while it is still hot) (C)200ml coconut milk (I used 100ml Kara brand coconut milk + 100ml water)85g cornflour(D)1 tsp yam colour flavored paste (optional)Method:1) Cook (A) till boiling.2) Combine (B), mix well. Add it into (A), mix till well blended. Sieve to obtain a finer and smoother texture (optional). 3) Continue to cook the above mixture till boil, then add (C) and (D) to cook till thicken. 4) Place one layer of cake into an 8” springform pan or cake ring. Pour some yam pudding over and smooth it, then top with anther layer of cake. Repeat this step and finish the last layer with yam pudding on top.5) Let it cool to room temperature and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. 6) Unmould, decorate with desiccated coconut as desired. Note:1) I used medium low heat throughout while cooking the yam pudding except after adding (C), I switched to low heat.2) After adding (B) and (C) need to stir constantly to avoid burning at the bottom. 3) In step 1 and 3, I only cooked till very gentle boil. 4) Prepare (B) and (C) in separate bowls before start cooking (A).

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

I notice more and more people around me including friends and colleagues are catching the craze of Happycall pan. I particularly like to use this kitchen gadget for grilling, ever since I owned the Happycall pan I hardly use oven for grilling, this pan make grilling fast and easy.

Chicken wing is our all times favourite. This is another grilled chicken wings dish that I created other than our usual Char Siew chicken wings, Teriyaki chicken wings and 4321 chicken wings.

Grilled Marmite Chicken Wings (Using Happycall Pan)

Ingredients:6 chicken wings or 12 mid-joint wing 1 tbsp Marmite 1 tbsp oyster sauce1 tbsp honey1 tbsp minced garlic1 tsp sesame oil1 tsp dark soy sauce (for colouring)Method:1) Wash and pat dry chicken wings. Marinate with all seasonings and minced garlic for at least one hour, best is to marinate overnight.2) Arrange chicken wings (without the marinade) in Happycall pan, close with magnet locked. Cook for 1 min over medium low heat, flip the wings manually and cook for another 1 min with magnet locked.3) Add some marinade on chicken wings, with pan opened, let it caramelize before adding the balance bit by bit. Flip the chicken wings manually in between. Repeat the same until all marinade is finished.

FrostingWhipped fresh cream (adequate) (see note)Method:1) In a large mixing bowl, whisk together (A) until combined. Sift in (B) and mix until smooth and well combined.2) In another bowl, beat eggs whites starting with low speed. When the egg whites turn frothy, slowly add in the sugar and increase the speed to high and beat until egg whites are nearly stiff but still moist and not dry.3) Fold one third of beaten egg whites with a balloon whisk into egg yolk mixture to lighten and mix well. Incorporate another one third of the whites. Lastly, add the rest of the egg whites and fold gently to obtain a smooth uniformly coloured foamy batter. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl with a spatula to ensure batter is well mixed.4) Pour batter into lined swiss roll pan. Level the batter and bake in preheated oven for 8 - 12 minutes for 180C. Start checking for doneness at 8 mins. Cake is done when inserted toothpick comes out clean. Tear away the baking paper and allow sheet cake to cool on wire rack. 5) To assemble, cut the cake into half, spread fillings on top (avoid 1cm from the edges), add crushed Oreo biscuits, place another piece of cake on top, press down gently. Frost the whole cake with whipped fresh cream, pipe shells at the upper and lower edges and arrange Oreo biscuits at four sides. Note:The fresh cream used here is non-dairy whip topping cream from Phoon Huat (Redman brand). Just pour the cream and whip till stiff. For two birthday cakes I whipped 3 cups of cream (measured when it is still in liquid form) and still left about 1 cup of whipped cream.